Marc Benioff, chief executive officer of Salesforce speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on January 18, 2024.
Halil Sagirkaya | Anadolu | Getty Images
Salesforce shares were up 7% on Tuesday after the company reported its fiscal third-quarter earnings, reporting revenue and fiscal fourth-quarter guidance that exceeded analysts’ expectations.
Here is how the company did compared to what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $2.41 adjusted vs. $2.44 expected
- Revenue: $9.44 billion vs. $9.34 billion expected
The company’s revenue grew 8% year-over-year during the fiscal third quarter, which ended on Oct. 31. Its net income was $1.5 billion in the quarter, up 25% from $1.2 billion a year ago.
Salesforce said that it is expecting fiscal fourth-quarter sales to come in between $9.90 billion to $10.10 billion. Analysts were projecting $10.05 billion in fourth-quarter sales.
The company said that it expects an earnings per share between the range of $2.57 and $2.62 in the fourth-quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.65.
Salesforce also raised the low end of its revenue guidance for its fiscal 2025 to come between $37.8 billion and $38 billion. That’s up slightly from $37.7 billion to $38 billion previously. The new range puts the mid point for Salesforce’s fiscal 2025 revenue guidance at $37.9 billion, ahead of analysts’ expectations of $37.86 billion.
“We delivered another quarter of exceptional financial performance across revenue, margin, cash flow, and cRPO,” Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said in a statement. “Agentforce, our complete AI system for enterprises built into the Salesforce Platform, is at the heart of a groundbreaking transformation.”
The company in August announced that CFO Amy Weaver would step down from her role as chief financial officer but remain in the position until the company appoints a successor, after which she will become an advisor. That same month, activist investor Starboard Value revealed that it boosted its position in Salesforce by roughly 40% in the second quarter following the firm issuing a letter earlier in the year saying that Salesforce was continuing to move “in the right direction” in regards to improving its profit margin.
Starboard Value released a presentation in October in which it noted that Salesforce “can continue to become more efficient and more profitable.”
